Bright Eyes
by welcometoBangkok
Summary: After her father is mysteriously murdered, a waterbender named Sienna decides to aveng his death. In the process she discovers the world of bending that was previously unknown to her, reveals the past that has lead up to the segregated and discriminatory world that she lives in, and joins a movement to liberate benders forever from the prejudice of non-benders.
1. One: Nightmares from the Past

Waves beat against the shoreline. Birds called out in the distant, empty sky. White foam climbed up the sandy beach after every crash of the ocean, tickling the toes of a small six year old girl who giggled at the cool, refreshing touch. She wiggled her toes, watching the water change course as it washed against her tiny feet. Dark ringlets hung in her face. The cascading breeze blew on her curls, tickling her freckled nose.

"Sienna!" a masculine voice called from a short distance away, "Stay here! I will be right back. Annette is in charge while I am gone. Listen to what she says because she is oldest and knows best."

Sienna crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom lip. Just because Annette was twelve years old didn't mean she knew better. Sienna hated being bossed around by Annette. But when Daddy shot her a stern look, she reluctantly agreed. Daddy ran over to her and kissed her on the forehead. Then he walked away with Mr. Blackwell, Annette's and Landon's daddy.

Sienna didn't like Annette and Landon because they always left her out. They never let her play with them. They always said that she was too young. But she was six years old now, and six years old was old enough to play with a twelve and seven year old.

So Sienna ran over to the pair and, bouncing up and down with excitement, her ringlets bobbing in her face, asked, "So what are we going to play?"

Annette groaned slightly. She already had to put up with her brother who was _five_ years younger than her. She didn't want to have to deal with this child also. But her dad told her that she had to watch over her. She was young and could hurt herself after all. Annette didn't like the job, but she liked the title it came with. She liked being oldest and in charge. She pushed her jet black hair out of her face, shook off her pessimism and decided to embrace the task left to her.

"Come on. I'll teach you how to skip rocks on the water," Annette flatly stated before trudging through the slippery sand to the water's edge. Landon and Sienna followed her like a game of follow-the-leader. Annette scanned the water, and after several moments she found what she was looking for: She plucked a perfectly flat rock from the shallow depths and presented it to her audience.

"You have to find flat rocks like this one. The flatter it is, the better it will skip. Then you have to keep your hand level," she instructed, bending down slightly, holding her hand out parallel to the water, closing one eye to aim, "then toss it like a Frisbee. Try to make it so that the rock lands flat on the water. That's how you get it to skip. Now go find some rocks."

And so the search began. Sienna hunted for the perfect rocks to throw. She wanted to impress Annette so that maybe she would want to play with Sienna in the future. She found some flat rocks washed onto the shore, some that were just under the surface of the water so she had to wait for the tide to recede, and some that were deeper still that the tide would not uncover. But they were the perfect rocks, so the little blue-eyed girl had to get them.

Suddenly, Sienna felt a big tug as a current pulled her little body in with a particularly strong wave. It ripped her right off her feet and dragged her out just a bit off the shore. It took her far enough out to where she could no longer feel the sandy bottom with her little toes, so she began to tread water. All the wonderful rocks she found to give to Annette fell to the bottom of the ocean as she used both of her arms to keep herself afloat. Internal panic alarms went off. What if she couldn't find any more flat rocks for Annette? Then Annette would never want to play with her again. Instantaneously Sienna decided that she _must_ retrieve the rocks. She took in a big gasp of air. She plugged her little nose. She dove to the depths of the ocean to recover her perfect rocks.

Sienna had always been a good swimmer. Daddy said it came from his side of the family. He joked and laughed and said that Mommy had been a terrible swimmer. But she was a good swimmer, so she wasn't afraid of diving under. She had been in the sea before too, so she wasn't afraid of the waves.

Sienna wasn't aware, but the tide was much stronger that day than the other times she had been in the ocean. While she was under, the current violently tugged her out farther and farther to where the waves were the largest. These were waves that experienced surfers liked to ride, because they arced high enough to allow passage through the inside of the curl. When Sienna popped her little head up to the surface to take in another breath of air, it was met with a pounding wall of white water. It dragged her back under before she could take in another gulp of air.

"Where is Sienna?" Landon asked after about fifteen minutes of collecting rocks.

Without looking up at her brother, Annette stated, "Last time I saw her she was swimming down there." She pointed to the location.

After several moments of silence with no response from her brother, she looked up at him with annoyance. He was staring out at the sea, scanning for any sign of Sienna, to no avail.

"I'm worried," he confessed, then squinted his amber eyes and continued his search.

Landon's eyes widened and his arm shot out, pointing a pale finger while shouting, "There!"

A dark mess of curly hair bobbed out of the water a ways away from the shoreline. As soon as it appeared, it was gone, dragged back under by fierce looking wave. It created a forceful _boom!_ upon impact.

"I'm going to get Dad and Mr. Terrell!" Landon yelled instantly, sprinting as fast as his short legs would take him away from the water and in the direction he seen his dad last head.

Landon had found a way to help but Annette couldn't. She didn't know how to swim. No one in her family really knew how. There was nothing she could do to help Sienna, but cry her name as loud as she could and sob a little in the process.

After several agonizing minutes Sienna's head stopped making its regular bobs about the water. The waves were coming to fast that she didn't have the opportunity anymore. Annette started hyperventilating. She heard pounding footsteps behind her. Mr. Terrell flew past her. His bright blue eyes were filled with panic. He dove into the water. Then everything went calm. The entire ocean just stopped. And with it, it seemed as though the entire universe seemed to halt as well. Even the birds grew quiet. The waves stopped crashing. There were no people on the beach. Mr. Terrell retrieved his daughter, swimming faster than anything she thought humanly possible. He performed CPR, and only after Sienna hacked up her first gulp of water did everything return back to normal. Annette had nearly passed out with the stress and strangeness of it all.

**A/N : I went back and corrected some grammatical and spelling errors that had been bothering me for awhile. I also added a few things that I felt needed to be added to some of the first several chapters.**

**Also, I originally had two different storylines going in the same fanfic, but I am going to separate them. I think it is too confusing when it goes back and forth, especially with a third story popping in there every once in awhile. I will most likely be focusing more on Sienna, because she was originally my main focus. We'll see how it goes! Please feel free to review. Whether negative or positive, I would love some feedback.**


	2. Two: Nightmares from Today

Sun rays streamed in through the missing blinds. They were on the same window that was missing the glass. It should just be called a hole in the wall that happened to be covered with blinds. _Almost_ covered with blinds. There, of course, were some missing. And they were currently were allowing sunlight to burn right through the eyelids of a sleeping Sienna. She had gotten to bed late last night – she had decided to work late for some extra cash - and this most unwelcome brightness was disturbing her short-lived slumber.

She moaned and rolled over onto her stomach, covering her head with her pillow for good measure.

"Dad! You said you would fix the blinds! I don't even care that there is no glass on the window. I just want to be able to wake up _after_ the crack of dawn for once. I am only nineteen years old. I am too young to be waking up as early as you," she groaned to her father. Her words were slightly muffled under her pillow-shield but still coherent.

Her father, who was clanking through pots and pans now that his daughter was awake, eagerly preparing to make breakfast, just waved a spatula at her. "Go sleep in the corner if you don't want the sun to hit you," he pointed towards the make-shift bed in the corner opposite the door, "Or move your bed away from the window."

"Yeah, okay," she sarcastically stated, rolling her bright blue eyes. She sat up to glare at her father, and in the process pushed waves of dark brown hair out of her eyes in order to see him better.

"Or I could just kick you out of the bed, considering I pay for this apartment, and make you sleep on the floor. I know for a fact I would not grumble as much as you do," Wilson threw back at his daughter. He laughed. He was kidding, of course. He had her sleep on the only bed in the room for a reason. He loved her to death, and wanted her to have the best he could provide for her.

"Pretty soon I'll be making just as much as you, if not more. Then I'll buy a room big enough for two beds and strategically place yours in front of a window with no blinds at all. But I will be nice and allow your window to have glass in it."

"Yes, your waitressing job is going to suddenly give you a ten-fold pay raise. Also, I get up before the sun does. Put me as close to the window as you want!"

Sienna chucked her pillow at her father. Wilson ducked just in the nick of time, the pillow flying inches above his head and smacking into a near-by wall with a feathery _poof! _He let out a roaring laugh that bounced off of the walls. Sienna began to laugh with him. His laughter died to a chuckle, then stopped altogether. Wilson's eyes began to drift off into his sizzling bacon strips, as if the popping grease was hypnotizing.

Sienna's father did that frequently. It was almost as if he lived in two different worlds. One was with Sienna and the other was with her mother. It just-so-happened that Sienna was a part of reality and her mother was merely in his head. Although she had no idea if her father realized the difference. He wasn't insane though. He didn't see people that weren't there or hear voices that no one else could. He just was never able to let go of Sienna's mother. He could never accept that she had passed and move on.

Sienna's mother, the love of Wilson's life, died giving birth to Sienna. She was her first child, and Wilson never remarried or had any other children. No one could ever live up to the standards of his late wife. Wilson cherished his daughter so much because he felt it was all he had left of his wife. Sienna had her mother's paler skin, touched with freckles across the nose and cheeks. Wilson always told Sienna that they were angel kisses. But other than her skin and also her thin eyebrows, she resembled her father completely. From her dark waves to her tall stature, from her round face to her full lips, from her round eyes to her sapphire irises, she resembled Wilson completely. Despite them being so beautiful, Wilson had always desperately wished he had not given her his blue eyes. If Sienna had her mother's amber-gold eyes, her future would be easier, if only slightly. He knew that from personal experience. The thought was heartbreaking.

Wilson admired his daughter - his strong, willful, beautiful daughter -and felt tears begin to well up. He pushed those back, but could still feel the redness in his eyes. He dropped his spatula, ignored his burning bacon which was now filling the entire room with its greasy scent, and pulled her into a tight hug.

After several moments he pulled away, cupped his hands around her cheeks and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I love you so much, and don't you ever forget it!"

"I know, Dad," Sienna murmured while staring at the ground, embarrassed by his emotion. But she did look him straight in the eye when she said she loved him too. "Now go finish your bacon before it burns to a crisp. I have to go get ready for work. I am working late tonight, so don't wait up for me."

* * *

A high-pitched scream cut through the air, waking everyone within the apartment building. Floods of people dress in robes and hair-curlers poured onto the third level hallway to see what all of the commotion was. There, crouched on the floor, was a girl in shrieking hysterics with her forehead pushed against the ground. There was vomit a few feet to her right. The apartment door in front of her stood ajar, and the shadow of a man hanging from a noose could be seen if one could get the right angle. All was dead silent, despite the mass of people, except for the wails of poor girl who had just discovered her father's corpse.


	3. Three: No One Likes a Pity Hand-Out

It had been a week since Sienna had found her father hanging in the middle of their shared, one-room, ratty apartment. She hadn't slept for days. Whenever she tried to force herself to sleep, images of her father would creep into her mind. And the questions. It looked like a suicide, but did her father actually kill himself? There were no signs of a struggle, and lynching would be an odd way to assassinate someone. But Sienna knew her father. She knew he wasn't always happy. In fact, Sienna knew that he was rarely ever happy, and that he only pretended to be for Sienna's sake. However, she knew that her father would never, _eve_r leave her. Wilson knew what it was like to lose a loved one, and he would never inflict that kind of pain on his beloved daughter. And there was no note. Isn't it a rule of thumb that if you commit suicide, you have to leave a note explaining why? There was no end to the questions that kept popping into Sienna's mind.

Aside from the owner of the apartment who had stopped by to offer her condolences and to allow late payment of that month's rent – under normal circumstances the fussy, uptight landlord would never have permitted a tardy imbursement – Sienna allowed no one in the house. She had even considered rejecting the property-owner as well, but was forced to let her in so as to not get on the woman's bad side. She knew Sienna was at home, so it was impossible to avoid.

Several had knocked on her door. She ignored the beckoning. Sienna had no energy or willpower to even get out of her bed. A few had left gifts: treats and pies and flowers, all with notes. She only knew this because four days in someone had slid a note under the door, so she felt it was time to at least pretend that she appreciated the gifts. Bringing them all in was the start. However, she hadn't bothered to actually read any of the letters. She assumed they would all just say how sorry everyone felt for her. She was already nauseous; pity wouldn't help keep her already low supply of stomach juices down.

She had been frequently vomiting throughout the past week but as time passed, her stomach had slowly become more secure. Trusting it to hold its own now, she reached for one of the cards closest to her.

_I am sorry to hear…_

Sienna promptly tossed it off of the side of her bed. She picked up another one.

_You poor thing, you must be so…_

This one she chucked with as much force as she could muster, aiming for the window across the room from her. She almost made it. Unsure as to why, she reached for another one. The letter she grabbed a hold of was attached to a rather large bouquet of flowers. No one in her apartment building or at her work could afford such an extravagant arrangement of flowers. This caught her interest.

Preparing to eventually chuck this one as well, and to make it _through_ her window this time, she opened the envelope marked with her name in fancy calligraphy.

_Your father was a great man…_

Sienna almost threw the note before she realized what she had just read. She reread it. It was exactly what she had wanted to hear. Letters to her about her father's death should have been about just that: Her father. Not her. She didn't want anyone to feel sorry for her about the current predicament, but she did want them to think about her father. Her father, and what a great man he was. She read on.

_Your father was a great man. I had the pleasure of knowing him for twenty long, interesting, and adventurous years. He was one of my dearest friends, and I am deeply upset at his passing, as I know you are as well. There is nothing worse than the loss of a beloved family member. But I advise you, just as I advise myself: Do not mourn his death, but celebrate his life. And just know how proud and happy you made the man. I, of all people, would know. You are all he would ever talk about to his coworkers._

_With great remorse over a cherished friend and remarkable parent, _

_-The Blackwells_

_P.S. Landon and I will be stopping by again on Wednesday at around three o'clock. Please allow us your company. We very much wish to see you in person. I also have a request of you. Annette will not be joining us because she is out of town doing business for me, but she will stop by to pay her respects as soon as she returns. _

Flopping over onto her stomach to find a more direct line of sight, Sienna hunted for the correct date on her calendar hanging just above her bed. Yep. It was Wednesday. She smashed her face into the pillow right below her and groaned.

Sienna realized that eventually things would have to return to normal. She didn't like the thought of life going on again _normally_. _Her_ normal was with her father, and continuing on as if nothing had happened seemed like an insult to her. She did not want to forget her father for even a moment. Ending her solitude and meeting with the Blackwell's would be the first step. And she just didn't know if she was ready.

It was inevitable, and upon rolling back over and peeking at her alarm clock, Sienna realized it was imminent. It was currently one o'clock. She had two hours to scrub away a week's worth of sweat and oil. Two hours to brush through seven nights of bed head. Two hours to become _presentable. _Many sarcastic thoughts of joy bubbled into her head.

The reason Sienna was even bothering to groom herself was because Mr. Blackwell was – had been – Wilson's boss. He was the president of a company that provided housing for the country's military. He was the richest man Sienna knew, which was incredible considering he had amber eyes. Anyone with blue, green, amber, or grey eyes had extreme trouble even acquiring jobs, let alone successful ones. Completely aware of this fact, Mr. Blackwell made a point of only hiring those with these specific eye colors.

Sienna always found it humorous in a solemn kind of way that Mr. Blackwell built military housing, but someone with his eye color could not legally join the military.

Groaning some more, but eventually leaving the comfort of her bed, Sienna crawled to the bathroom to groom herself into someone presentable to such an elitist.

A knock sounded. A crabby Sienna muttered some incoherent words sounding suspiciously like "Here we go…" before swinging open the door for her guests.

Two lofty, lean men stood in front of her. Anyone could easily tell they were related. Mr. Blackwell was merely the fifty-something year old version of his twenty year old son. They shared the same pale-white complexion, jet-black hair, angular face, sharp nose, almond-shaped eyes and excellent posture. They even had similarly styled clothing. The father wore a dark grey business suit, complete with a briefcase in his right hand, while the son wore black dress pants, shiny leather shoes, and a navy button-up. Currently his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing that Landon wasn't as fond of his work clothes as his seasoned father. But above all else, their most prominent shared feature was the amber eyes with flecks of gold.

"Sienna!" Mr. Blackwell burst out the moment the door had opened, "You are looking well. It has been quite a few months since I had seen you last. May we come in?" He said it almost nervously, but still with a warm, genuine smile that reached his eyes.

Sienna nodded and stepped out of the doorway, making room for the two men to enter. She closed the door behind them.

Mr. Blackwell immediately enveloped her in a big, but not crushing, hug. He was a generally touchy-feely kind of man, as well as talkative. Basically, he was the exact opposite of his son in every way except appearance.

Almost every weekend of her childhood - or at least until she was old enough to make her own friends at school - Sienna had spent at the Blackwell household. Having never really gotten along with Annette, even though they were the same gender, she always played with Landon. Despite being so close then, he was always extremely stiff around her now. She only ever saw him at her father's (and his father's for that matter) work, or at company parties. On those rare occasions, he acted as though they knew nothing about each other.

Mr. Blackwell, on the other hand, could make a friend out of a stranger within a few minutes and know their entire life story within the hour. He was very good with people, which was probably why he was such a successful business man.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable, so I won't mention your father unless you want to talk about him. We wanted to stop by and check up on you though, which I know you probably feel is unnecessary, but it relieved me to see that you are okay. We consider you a part of the family. Remember that. I you ever need anything we'll be here for you," Mr. Blackwell expressed true concern in his voice.

Landon merely nodded in the background, both of his hands in his front pockets as if this conversation could not get more awkward.

"Thank you for your concern. It means a lot to hear that from you. I'm okay, but I am not quite sure if I am ready for everything to go back to normal again. But I know that I at least need to return to work soon, before I get fired."

"That is actually why I came here today: My request for you. Before I ask this of you, know that I am not offering this because I feel sorry for you – I know how you don't like that. Your accepting this position would actually be extremely beneficially to me. I would like you to replace your father as my head court reporter/general documentation manager. Please understand that I desperately need an immediate, _trustworthy_, replacement, and I can think of no other person better than you."

Sienna's eyes bulged. Was this some sort of joke? It wasn't as though in the past week she hadn't thought about how she was going to pay the bills without her father. But this just seemed too easy. A decent paying job in the professional world handed to her on a silver platter. No wonder he had headed his offer with that long introduction. It did feel like a pity handout. But handout or not, she would not turn down such an opportunity.

"Just know that if you accept, I would need you in as soon as possible. By that I mean Friday at the latest. I know you are still recovering, but I was serious when I said that I am desperate. And the sooner you come in the sooner we could train you."

With almost no hesitation Sienna affirmed her acceptance.

At her agreement Landon's eyes, which were previously staring at his shoes, darted up to stare at Sienna. He would be seeing her almost every day now.

It would be just like old times.

**A/N: For those who read the original version of the next chapter, I have completely changed it. Thus the chapters following are different as well. I decided to fix everything sooner rather than later. I like it much more now. I hope you do too!**


	4. Four: What is the Meaning of This?

Two months had passed since the death of Wilson Terrell. His daughter had proven herself very adaptive. She had quit her job at the restaurant and easily taken her father's place in the company. Once she had been properly trained (the job was not remotely hard, it just required knowledge of certain technical words, the ability to multitask, and a grade-A attention span) she assimilated herself into the company quite well. The walk from her apartment to the office was quite a trek, but Sienna didn't complain. It made up for the exercise she lost sitting in a dim room all day listening to tape after tape _after tape_ of monologues and court rulings and meeting discussions and company legislation. Again, it required a first-class attention span.

It was around nine in the morning, an hour after she normally arrived. Sienna sat in her father's old, tiny office. As usual, the door was shut and all lights were off. The room was dark except for the glow that emanated from her bulky computer screen. She sat comfortably in her squishy chair, feet up on her desk, ear phones on. She typed away the words she heard as fast as her newly trained fingers would allow her to. She often had to replay certain segments if she was not able to get down every word, but she knew she would get better at her job with time.

Sienna was shuffling through the box of tapes she was tasked with completing for the day when she heard a knock on her office door. Assuming it was Mr. Blackwell, she took her feet off her desk and made herself look a little more professional before calling, "Come in!".

It was Landon.

Sienna immediately returned to her slouching position with her feet propped on her desk.

"How can I help you?" Sienna asked, politely enough, but also disinterested. During the two months she had been working with Landon, he had done little to extend any kindness to her. Aside from the curt "hello", he practically ignored her. It bothered Sienna slightly. She had counted on him to help her adjust to the new workplace. Instead he made her feel uncomfortable being there. Like he knew something that she didn't. Something that made him judge her differently than when they were little kids.

"I want you to stop by my office after you finish up. I need to talk to you about something," Landon said, staring at the floor.

Why did he always do that?! He _never_ looked her in the eyes! It made her feel inferior, and she couldn't stand it.

"Why not just tell me now?" Sienna asked with a slight hint of attitude. She stared directly at him. He met her gaze momentarily and after darting around a little bit, he focused his amber eyes on her sapphire ones.

Without answering her question, he walked forward and picked up her box of tapes for the day. He scrutinized its contents.

"Is this what you need to do today?"

"Yes," Sienna said curtly.

"Hmm."

Landon shook the box, shuffling its contents. He plucked a tape off the top of the pile and read its label.

"The Attassi Case. I remember that one. It was a long trial," he stated.

He placed the tape back in the box.

"Just come find me before you leave today," he concluded, placing the box back on her desk.

He made his exit, closed the door, and everything was quiet again.

_Well that was unusual._

Sienna looked up at the clock on her wall. Six o'clock. She could see the sun setting through the blinds behind her. She had put in a ten hour day, yet she still had one more tape to go. Half of the building had gone home already. She wondered if Landon was still there. If not, then she hoped that got her out of talking to him about whatever he wanted to tell her.

She picked up the tape and examined it. It had no label, which was odd. Each tape usually had a date and time written on it. That was how she organized them in the computer.

_Maybe I can listen to it and puzzle together where it should go_, she thought.

So she popped the tape into the player and listened. The tape immediately perked her interest. She had never heard Mr. Blackwell on one of her tapes before.

_"Wilson, I am going to need you to make a decision sooner rather than later. They whole world can see you daughter's eyes. They all know what she is. Except Sienna herself doesn't know. What do you plan on doing with her?"_

_ "I don't know!"_

Sienna stopped the tap right there. She felt her eyes begin to water when she heard her father's voice. She gave herself a moment to breathe. She willed the tears not to flow from her eyes. After several minutes, she knew that she would not be able to control her emotion. So she pressed play and allowed the water to fall freely down her face.

"_I just don't know. I respected your decision to tell Annette and Landon. Could you respect mine not to tell Sienna? I want to keep her out of this."_

"_Do you really think that is possible anymore? Even if the resistance wasn't growing the way it is, do you honestly think you can keep her from stumbling upon it herself? She could be taking a bath and-"_

"_I am relying heavily on the fact that she is afraid of water. Maybe a little too heavily. But I can't seek refuge in my status like you can. Sienna can gain nothing with her ability. She can only lose. It is better that she never knows. I have given to you and to the resistance everything I can: My time, my efforts, my abilities. All I ask is that you keep Sienna away from this. I want this struggle to be over as much as you do, but my daughter is more important to me than anything this world can offer me."_

_A chair screeched as it slid against concrete ground. Footsteps sounded, then a door opened. _

"_This discussion isn't over, Wilson."_

"_It is for now." _

_The door slammed closed. _

The tape ended there.

Several emotions swirled in Sienna's mind: confusion, sorrow, curiosity, anxiety, anger. But above all else Sienna felt deceived. Her dad, whom she had loved and trusted, had kept something from her. According to Mr. Blackwell, this _something_ was extremely important. And it had something to do with her eyes? And the entire world knew it except her. No wonder Landon treated her differently than when they were children. He must know this _something_ that she didn't know. Could it really have been drastic for him to treat her like he didn't want to even be associated with her?

Speaking of Landon, he had wanted to speak with her when she had finished working. Sienna decided that Landon could wait. She had a more important matter to deal with.

Whatever was going on with this tape, Sienna knew just who to get the answers from. She pocketed the tape, whipped the tears from her eyes, and marched out of her office. The door slammed slightly behind her. By now, three-fourths of the office had gone home, but she knew Mr. Blackwell would still be here. He put in twelve hour days on regular basis.

Sienna approached Mr. Blackwell's office door. She lifted a fist to knock on the door, mouth open to call out his name, but a pair of hands swiftly prevented both. Pale fingers wrapped around her wrist and covered her mouth to prevent her from making any noise, then yanked her away from Mr. Blackwell's door and into the next office over.

Landon shut and locked the door behind him, then whipped to face Sienna.

"I thought I told you to come find me when you were finished," he stated, a slight bit of annoyance in his voice.

Sienna crossed her arms in agitation.

"I was going to, but I need to speak to your father first," Sienna pushed past Landon towards the door, "So if you will excuse me-"

Landon grabbed her by the wrist.

"Wait! If you are going to him about the tape…"

Sienna whipped around. She quickly put two and two together. "You put the tape in my box. That is what you want to talk to me about. Alright, then talk. Are you trying to make me upset with my dad or with your dad? Because to be frank I am most upset with you."

Landon ignored the comment and let out what he planned to tell her.

"First thing in the morning tomorrow, come to my office. I promise that tomorrow I will answer any and every question you can come up with. Okay?"

Then he added, "I know that answer probably makes you even more upset with me, but this isn't something I could just tell you. It is something I have to show you."

Sienna glared at Landon. He stood, stubborn and bull-headed. She knew it would be wasted effort to pester him with questions. She was about to throw some very nasty words at him until she looked into his eyes. Not only were they looking right into hers without hesitation, but they held concern. Concern for her. Sienna hadn't seen a look like that on Landon since they were small children. Once when he had pushed her on a swing so hard that she fell off and began crying. Once when she fell out of a tree and broke her arm. Once when she nearly drowned in the ocean and her dad had saved her.

Sienna softened her glare.

"Okay?" He asked.

"Okay."

Sienna started for the door, and then stopped herself.

"Landon?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you one question before I leave?"

He let out a soft, but noticeable sigh. He wanted to explain everything, show her what he needed to show her, before she began to assault him with questions.

"Sure."

"Why didn't you just give me the tape and tell me to listen to it? Why wait until I found it?"

His face contorted with bewilderment, as if that was the last question Landon had expected to hear.

"I guess I wanted to give you some space when you, umm, heard your father's voice," he said very awkwardly.

After several seconds Sienna nodded and exited the room.


	5. Five: Getting to the Bottom of It

Sienna could hardly sleep that night. Well, she had not been getting much sleep in general since her father died, but that night was worse. Her mind kept her up with questions. What could possibly be wrong with her? Why would her father keep it from her? Why was Landon taking it upon himself to "show" her these things? The possible answers that Sienna came up with did not help to put her mind at ease. She eventually fell asleep in the middle of the night.

Despite the fact that she had moved the bed away from the window, the sun still woke Sienna up. She had not fallen into a very deep sleep. With a hastiness that almost resembled eagerness, she quickly got dressed and flew out her front door. She had not even bothered to eat breakfast. Not that it mattered; She rarely ate anything recently anyway.

She felt slightly nauseous with anticipation as she walked in through the front door of the office, up the stairs (she had always felt that the elevator was for the lazy or immobile), and straight into Landon's office. She may have been an hour early to work, but of course he was there waiting for her.

When she entered, Landon immediately put down the piece of paper he was reading. He looked as though he had something he wanted to say to her. She stood there, silent, for several moments. Eventually he settled with, "Are you ready?"

The previous night's anger had faded away in her sleep – despite how short-lived her sleep was – and had been replaced by a burning curiosity. Sienna had a thousand questions she wanted to ask. But she held them in and simply nodded her head.

It took him several seconds to process her response. Once it hit him, Landon gradually got up out of his chair and walked towards the door. He moved slowly, as if Sienna was a kitten that he was afraid of scaring away. Sienna followed him out of the room, down the hall, and into the elevator. She rolled her eyes as they walked into it. Landon did not notice.

"Isn't your dad going to notice if we aren't here today?"

Landon's eyes quickly averted her gaze. Sienna absolutely loathed when her did that.

"I cleared it with him. Don't worry about it."

"Does he know where we are going?"

"Not exactly."

"Then what did you tell him?"

Landon did not answer. Sienna rolled her eyes. She occupied herself on the way down by counting the number of buttons on the elevator until the doors finally opened. They were on the ground floor, better known as the parking garage.

Sienna followed Landon to a motorcycle that was occupying a car-sized parking spot. Sienna wouldn't have believed it was Landon's had there not been a sign with his name on it reserving the spot.

"You've got to be kidding me! You ride this thing to work every day? Why am I just figuring this out now?"

Landon just handed her his helmet – the only one – then mounted the vehicle. With quite some hesitation, Sienna pulled the helmet on and mounted the motorcycle behind Landon.

"I've never ridden a motorcycle before," Sienna confessed.

"Well hold on tight and try not to fall off."

Sienna found that rolling her eyes would be a common theme with Landon. Although she was not fond of his sass, she was enjoying that Landon was actually communicating with her. He was not just ignoring her (well not completely), like he had been the past few months. So maybe this _something_ he needed to "show" her was not as bad as she thought it was. If he was willing to explain it to her, then maybe this _something _was not the reason Landon had been treating her differently than he used to. After all, Mr. Blackwell had not treated her any differently than he used to. And Annette…well Annette had never liked Sienna very much.

Landon pushed up the kick stand and took off quickly. Sienna barely grabbed on to him in time to prevent herself from flying off the back of the bike.

It was a terrifying experience. They rode going ninety miles per hours out of the city and deep into the surrounding uninhabited areas. Rolling hills covered in dead grasses went on for miles in all directions except one: Directly in front of them was a large forest that concealed the base of a mountainside. Sienna wondered if that was where they were headed, but dismissed the thought when she saw that the road turned away from the forest. Sienna was sorely mistaken when they reached the turn in the road and Landon blatantly ignored it. He lead his bike toward the forest, off the road, but not in a straight line. He created large arcs, then doubled back so as to keep heading toward the towering trees. The ground was bumpy and she could feel the bike wobble with every turn he made. Sienna had never held onto anything so hard in her life. She wondered how Landon had not complained yet.

They pressed forward until they entered the woods and they could take the bike no further.

"I need you to get off and press yourself against a tree, preferably away from the edge of the forest. Just give me a second," Landon said.

She did what he said without question – not that Sienna did not want to know what the hell was going on – while he walked the motor cycle off to a distant location. He walked far enough that she could not see him, and for several minutes after that. He was gone long enough for Sienna to begin to question why she agreed to come. However he did come back.

"What were you doing?" Sienna asked.

"Making sure we can't be tracked."

Well that was an interesting response. At least it explained the _interesting_ path they had taken.

"We need to move quickly and quietly. Follow my path and try not to step on anything that I don't step on," Landon ordered.

For a lanky, office-worker Landon was incredibly graceful and stealthy. He moved in zigzags, mostly stepping on stones to avoid leaving footprints. His motions seemed random, and he never headed in one direction for very long. However, he did seem to be migrating towards one particular location. As the trees thinned out, Sienna realized that they were almost to the edge of the mountain.

Suddenly, Landon stopped and Sienna came crashing into him.

"Hey! What-" Sienna began to protest.

"Don't walk past me. You can't see it, but there is an electric fence right in front of me. See the fence posts," Landon pointed to metal posts on either side of him, "I can tell you from personal experience, you don't want to walk through these. Please just don't move."

Sienna stood while Landon search across the terrain for something Sienna assumed would turn off the electric current. A few minutes of searching, face to the floor, eyes squinting across the leaf-covered ground and Landon found his answer: four identical holes in the ground arranged in a horizontal line. Each was about the size of an orange.

Sienna pursed her lips, "What are you supposed to do with those?"

Without answering her question, Landon stated, "When I am finished, you need to sprint across to the other side. I can only disarm the fence for a couple of seconds."

After receiving an understanding nod from Sienna, Landon crouched down onto his knees and placed his palm on the third hole from the left. He took a deep breath in, then forcefully shoved his hand against the hole. Veined cracks webbed around the hole, glowed red momentarily before fading out. The fence posts made a slight fizzling sound.

"Run!" Landon was on his feet, sprinting through the fence posts, followed shortly by Sienna.

With a crack, a shot of electricity stretched from one post to the next, signifying the power was back on. They paused to catch their breath for a moment. Once finished, Landon pointed a finger to a trail lead up the mountain.

"There. That's where we are going."

They trudged up a dirt trail – they were no longer minding their footsteps – until Landon stopped.

"We're here."

Sienna let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. She was tired and out of breath. Her decision to skip breakfast that morning had been a bad one. It had taken an hour of driving and at least two hours of walking for them to finally arrive to wherever "here" was. Sienna was seriously beginning to wonder whether going with him had been a good idea.

She looked around and realized that there was nothing "here". They were not at the end of the dirt path. It continued up the mountain. Was this some kind of a joke?

Landon took her hand and pulled her through what looked like a crack in the wall of the mountain. They were able to slide through the conveniently human sized crack until it opened up into a balcony made of stone, complete with a rock railing. Sienna looked out over the ledge.

It was the most unbelievable thing she had ever seen.


	6. Six: Did She Really Want to Know?

A massive cavern lay before Sienna. The platform that the crack opened onto was elevated to the point that Sienna could see to the far reaches of the cave. It was made entirely of rock, and it was large enough to fit thousands of people. Stalactites jutted from the ceiling above a moderately sized underground lake at the leftmost side of the cave. While the sheer size of the underground room was incredible, the people inside the room were even more amazing.

"I know you aren't going to want to hear this from me," Landon said somewhere behind Sienna, "but there are some things I need to explain to you…"

Those surrounding the lake danced, gracefully moving their bodies and water was following them. Water flowed in streams suspended in mid air, mimicking the dancers.

"…There are secrets in our world that only the oldest of people know about. The people who can remember what it used to be like…"

Chunks of earth were being ripped out of the ground by the sheer pump of a fist, stomp of a foot, thrust of an arm, and being thrown in every direction.

"…The newest generations are either told the stories and don't believe them, or are never told at all…"

Bright flashes of heat exploded from well aimed fists, threatening anyone who stood in the way.

"…There are things I need to tell you about our history. Things I need to tell you about why things are the way they are today. And most importantly, I need to tell you about yourself…"

Others were completely airborne, gliding along the roof of the cavern and laughing at gravity as they ascended.

"…Sienna, you're a waterbender."

Sienna was too preoccupied with what was going on around her to immediately catch what Landon had said. She slowly turned her head to look at him, eyebrows furrowed, puzzled. She tried to piece together what she was seeing with what he was saying, but for some reason she could not quite make the connection. She was standing in a room full of people manipulating the four elements and he had called her what? A waterbender?

She whipped herself around to face the people around the lake, the ones maneuvering the water. She turned back to Landon with a look that asked for confirmation. He nodded.

For a short bit of time Sienna just kept looking back in forth, from the waterbenders to Landon, unable to comprehend what he was telling her. What Sienna was seeing was the kind of thing you see in movies, not in real life. And telling her that she could do it too? Wouldn't she have realized if she had some special connection with water? Wouldn't she have felt something whenever it rained, or whenever she went swimming?

Except that she never did go swimming. The last time Sienna had been in a body of water bigger than a puddle had been when she was six years old and had almost drowned in the ocean. The memory consumed her thoughts, and suddenly Sienna was six years old again, the ocean's current pulling her out. Waves were beating down on her. Her lungs were filling with water, choking her. The tide was pulling her under. She didn't know which way was up, which way was down…

"Sienna?"

Sienna snapped back to reality. Landon had a slight look of concern on his face. She must have just started spacing out. She did that every once in awhile.

"You turned really pale all of a sudden. Are you okay?" Landon asked.

She nodded to reassure him. The sudden concern – the emotion itself for that matter – was extremely surprising to Sienna.

She cleared her mind of the memory and focused on what was happening at the moment: Landon had just tried to tell her she could magically move water. If she hadn't been staring at others doing it right at that moment, she would not have believed that it was even possible. She was still having trouble believing it.

"Is this real?" Sienna asks.

"Do you want me to pinch you?"

"No, but I am having a hard time processing what is happening. Is this some sort of a stage production? Did the government invent a new type of telekinesis technology? Have I been drugged?"

"Let me show you."

And there was that word again. He took her down a flight of stairs to the bottom of the cave.

"I'm surprise we didn't take an elevator," Sienna muttered sarcastically under her breath.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing," Sienna chuckled to herself.

Landon lead her to the lake-side people. She saw that there were no props and no technological devices. She would have to rely on Landon's word that she was not on drugs.

The weight of it all was starting to press on her as she realized the gravity of what he had shown her and told her. A million questions buzzed in her head. _How is this possible? What is this place? How can this be kept a secret from the world? How can Landon know that I can move water if I didn't even know that I could? Why is Landon even telling me all this?_

That last thought was what she chose as her first question: "Why are you showing me this?" It came out almost accusatory.

He looked confused. "Because you are a waterbender and-"

"No, I mean why are _you _showing me this? Why now? Shouldn't someone have told me when I was younger? I find it hard to believe that I can do that," Sienna pointed towards the people by the lake, "and not know for my entire life, with no one telling me. Wouldn't I feel it or something whenever I took a shower?"

Sienna's head was starting to hurt. She was starting to get angry. She didn't understand why she was reacting so extremely, so suddenly.

He sighed. "I think it would be better if I explained it all from the beginning."

**A/N : I like to play with Syntax, so if my sentence structure makes anything unclear, let me know. I'd be happy to fix it. I know that I have a problem with run-on sentences (I am a fan of commas). But if there is anything else, please don't hesitate to tell me. **


	7. Seven: No, She Didn't

Landon gestured for Sienna to follow him. Landon led Sienna though the cave almost as if he was giving a tour. The two walked for awhile around the cave, weaving through the different groups of benders. Landon pointed out different areas and people of interest, explaining the significance. This went on for almost twenty minutes – and Sienna was beginning to lose her patience – before the amber-eyed boy finally got to the point.

"Alright," Landon began, "So there are the four elements: water, earth, fire, and air. Sometime in the early history of the planet, humans learned how to manipulate these elements. Waterbenders learned from the moon to-"

"How did they _learn _from the moon?" Sienna interrupted, "How could it have taught-"

"They mimicked how the moon pushes and pulls the tides. I'm sure there is an accurate documentation of it somewhere, but as of this day and age we only have what is passed down by word of mouth. But that's a different story for a different day. The waterbenders learned from the moon. The Earthbenders learned from the giant badgermoles, the firebenders learned from the dragons-"

"Woah, woah, woah. You are trying to tell me that dragons are real? Next you will be telling me that-"

"Sienna! I'm not going to continue if you keep interrupting me. I know it is a lot to take in so suddenly, but please try to hold your questions. I need to get this all out there."

Sienna grumbled but agreed.

"Alright," Landon continued as if he were a seasoned teacher, "so the Firebenders learned from dragons and the Airbenders learned from the flying bison. It is just something you are born with. And you can tell if someone is born a bender by their eye color. And here is where the problem lies. Would you be able to tell me the hierarchical structure of society today? Do you know who is up top and who is at the bottom of the human food chain?

"Are you kidding me? You would have to live under a rock not to witness the discrimination. Blue eyes like mine are at the bottom. Next up is amber eyes, like you and your dad. Then green eyes, then grey eyes. Brown and hazel and blue-green are up at the top."

"We call ourselves the bright eyed. I guess you can say it's another term for 'bender'. Blue is for water, green is for earth, amber is for fire, grey is for air."

Sienna took a look around and focused in on all of the faces around her. Landon was right. All of the waterbenders had sapphire eyes identical to hers. The Earthbenders all had emerald. The Airbenders' were metallic silver. And the firebenders' were glowing amber with flecks of gold, just like Landon's.

"Wait a second!" Sienna exclaimed in realization, "You have the amber eyes. There is no way you can make fire like that. I've known you my entire life. I think I would have known."

Landon sighed and flicked open his hand to reveal a glowing flame resting in the center of his palm. Sienna looked as if her eyes were about to pop out of her head. She stuck her finger out and waved it through the fire as if she were playing with a candle. Landon flinched at her movement and his flame went out. Sienna had a look of astonishment plastered on her face. She put her hands to her head as if she had a headache.

"This is all so crazy! I feel like I am going insane."

Sienna ran her fingers through her hair, the gentle tug soothing to her racing head.

Landon looked into Sienna's eyes. "Do you want me to keep talking?" he asked. That emotion – that concern – was in his eyes again.

Sienna let out a loud, long sigh.

"You might as well. I haven't gone into shock yet and I doubt this could get any weirder, so go ahead."

As quickly as the flicker of concern was there, it was gone. His expression sagged back into seriousness.

"Okay, so us bright eyes are discriminated against because a long time ago the non-benders decided to revolt against benders. They waged a war against us and they won. They took over the government and declared bending illegal. They forced benders to either give up the art or to go underground. They burned all evidence of us – books, tapes, records - and punished anyone who spoke of us. Eventually social lines were drawn and benders were placed as lower class citizens.

"Ours is a government ruled by a non-bending elite hell-bent on keeping benders from being able to take back control. This is the reason that bright eyes are given less pay for the same work as non-benders. This is why most industries won't hire Waterbenders, and would hardly stop to even consider hiring Earth, Fire, or Airbenders. This is why it is nearly impossible for bright eyes to acquire loans, grants, or aids to better themselves. It is impossible for benders to move up in society if they cannot receive a loan to buy a house or a grant to attend college. Our situation is a raging fire that is fueled by societal standards and tended to by governmental policy. It may not seem this way, but I know that we will be able to extinguish this all-consuming fire.

"If the council knew what we were doing down here we would all be rounded up this instant. All of these benders before you are those who know the truth and are willing to fight in order to achieve equality with non-benders. We are a resistance group. Everyone down here is here because they believe that someday we will be able to change our circumstances."

Sienna was amazed. She could hardly imagine Landon having any feelings at all. But he taught his lesson with a passion that revealed a side of Landon that Sienna did not know existed. His words were elegant, yet still powerful. He made Sienna not only understand him, but also agree with him. She wanted to hear more about how the world was going to change, because it sounded possible coming from Landon's mouth. However, the fervor evaporated from his words as Landon moved onto the next subject. He became the serious, emotionless man he always was, and it seemed impossible that he could every have been anything else.

"That is the extremely short version. It doesn't do much justice to our cause, but I'll have to teach you more about our history later," Landon continued, "but for right now that is all you need to know. I'm going to tell you about your father, who had a secret life that you don't know about."

Sienna winced slightly at the mention of her father's name. If she was not so stunned by the day's events she probably would have asked Landon not to bother explaining. She would have said that she still was not ready to hear anyone mention her father's name, let alone any mention of her father's "hidden past". She wanted to go crawl into a hole whenever she thought too deeply about her father, but that moment was different. As Landon explained all of these things to her, Sienna felt as though she was living someone else's life. And maybe, just maybe, all of this talk about her father's "hidden past" was someone else's life too. So Sienna could handle it that day because it was not quite real yet.

"Your father was a waterbender, just like you. I'm sure you could recall that he had your same blue eyes. He was in a situation very similar to the one you are in this exact moment. He grew up never knowing he was a waterbender. Your mother, a very active member of the resistance, sought out your father in order for him to join the cause. She revealed to him the truth and he willingly joined our efforts. That is how he met my father, and how he acquired his job and the different apartments that you both have lived in. I'm sure that you have noticed that my father only hires bright eyes. But more specifically, my father only hires those who are also a part of the resistance. Wilson was my father's court reporter, but more importantly he was a major task leader for increasing awareness. Our resistance has two main focuses: Increasing awareness of the bending arts and gathering support in order to reverse the course of history. Your father – and your mother for that matter – both sought out new recruits for the resistance. Your mother focused on gaining the support of benders who knew what they were, but were afraid of the law. Your father preferred to enlighten those who did not know that bending even existed. He wanted to tell as many people as possible so that they could make truly informed decisions about their lives.

"This is where the story gets confusing. When you were born, Wilson made it very adamant that you could never know what you are. As you heard in the tape, my father asked your father many times why he wanted you kept in the dark. Wilson would never give a straight-forward answer. Just that he never wanted you to know. My father chose to respect your father's wishes. I know that by telling you everything I have completely disrespected your father. But I don't believe that he had the right to strip you of the ability to make your own decision."

It took several minutes for Sienna to process everything he had said. Everything that Landon was saying sounded fictional. It was difficult for Sienna to entertain the possibility that any of it was true. When she finally let her skepticism and defenses down, her very first reaction was anger. Not anger towards her father, but anger towards Landon.

Landon had patiently waited as Sienna contemplated his words, and was taken by surprise when she finally lashed out.

"My dad has been telling you my entire life that he didn't want me to know, yet it only takes a few months after he dies for you and your father to jump on the opportunity?! Did you ever think that he had a very good reason that you guys just never thought of? Or that maybe I didn't want to know any of this?"

Sienna started breathing as if there was no more oxygen left in the air. She looked as if she might pass out. She was horrified that the Blackwells would betray her father like that.

"Well, actually my father doesn't know that I told you. Like I said in the elevator, he doesn't know that I took you here today."

It was slightly disturbing how calm Landon was as he responded to her outburst. Sienna became even more furious.

"Well I'm glad to know that you are the only one sick enough to betray my father like this."

Landon just let out a soft sigh and said, "I wanted to tell you as early as possible, before you got too involved."

Sienna grunted and threw her hands up in the air in resentment. She stomped away from him before she did something she regretted to that perfectly tranquil face of his.

Landon stood where he was and rubbed his eyes. He hoped that she would not stay angry for too long. He had no idea how long she could hold a grudge, and he did not have all day to find. He had to get Sienna back to the office before evening or else his father would begin to suspect something.

Glancing back to where Sienna was trudging away, Landon could not help but chuckle. She had no idea where she was going. She would get lost without Landon's help.

**A/N: Again, if you have already read this story, I have made some changes to the first several chapters. It isn't anything major, but it does affect the story slightly. So you know, I plan on making this a long one. Also, for a better summary of the story, you can view my profile. Please let me know how you are feeling about the story so far!**


	8. Eight: Thank You Annette

Landon discovered that Sienna could hold a grudge for quite a long time. An hour after their conversation she was still pacing around the cavern. At one point tears had even began to pour from her eyes, but she quickly wiped those away. About twenty minutes in Landon had grown tired of standing where she had left him, so he had walked to the nearest cavern wall and sat. He leaned against the hard rock and continued to watch Sienna's rage, praying she would calm down soon.

"Wow, what did you do to make her so pissed off?" asked a very familiar voice.

Landon glanced to his left and watched his sister walk toward him.

"Annette, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to be in the office all day," said Landon, suddenly panicked. He had not planned on telling his family about Sienna until she was calm enough to accept her situation.

"I had a change of plans. There is a new boy who needed some help _controlling_ himself and there wasn't anyone here qualified enough to fix the problem. But I didn't know that we would be having two new recruits all in one day. I'm guessing she is taking it well?" Annette's voice dripped sarcasm.

"She is on the frits because I told her about her father. She actually took the rest very well. She didn't throw up or pass out. Although I thought she would at one point."

"Has she tried bending yet?"

"I wasn't planning on getting that far today. I need to get her back before evening. I didn't exactly tell father I brought her out here. He would be reacting the same way she is right now," Landon motioned to Sienna.

"Oh? How did you get her the day off of work?"

"I, umm, told him that I was taking her out to the fairgrounds," Landon said very awkwardly.

Annette busted out laughing, "You told him you were taking her out on a date? And he bought it?"

"I couldn't think of a better excuse. And yes, he believed me. He actually got very excited about it. I really hope he doesn't push me for details," Landon's voice took on an edge of defensiveness.

"If he does, you are going to screw yourself over: You are the worst liar I know. I'm surprised you were able to convince him that you took Sienna out."

"Well, my stuttering only helped my cause."

Annette started to laugh again. When she had calmed down she checked her watch.

"You are going to have to get Sienna out of here soon. And she doesn't look like she is gonna be going anywhere with you any time soon," Annette said.

"I know."

Landon got up out of his seated position. Several joints cracked in complaint. He crossed the cavern to where Sienna was pacing. Annette wordlessly followed him. He grabbed Sienna gently by the shoulders and stopped her from walking any further. She made a face as though she had been assaulted. Then she looked over Landon's shoulder at Annette.

"Great. Are you in on this too, Annette?" Sienna threw out, crossing her arms to add emphasis.

"No, kid, I'm just as surprised as you are."

Sienna was slightly shocked by this. She was not expecting that answer.

"Well then what are you doing here?" Sienna asked.

"The same thing as my brother, here: Dealing with a newbie. I found an Earthbender who started Earthbending before he knew what Earthbending was and he is currently having a panic attack in one of our facilities."

Sienna made a face that said she did not know how, nor did she want to, respond to what Annette just said.

"Hey Landon, could you give Sienna and I a moment," Annette asked, suddenly sincere.

He nodded and began meandering in some other direction. He hoped that whatever Annette was going to say was going to help his cause.

"Look, kid, I know Landon didn't handle this in the best possible way, but he is honestly doing what he thinks is best. You can't see this little operation of ours," Annette swept her hand through the air to indicate the entirety of the cavern, "from his point of view. You don't realize it now, but you are going to love being a waterbender."

"I hardly even know what that means!" Sienna whined.

"Now. But you will. You can be angry at Landon all you want right now for what he did. But I know that he did the right thing. And eventually you will too. But for right now, I just need you to go back home with him before my father starts to get any funny ideas."

Annette started laughing to herself about what sort of "ideas" her father would be getting about Landon and Sienna.

After some internal grumbling, Sienna muttered, "Fine."

Sienna was tired. All of this information was starting to put her brain on overload. She wanted to crawl into bed, and if that meant suffering through another motorcycle ride with Landon, so-be-it. She was starting to transition out of her actively angry state into a more passive one.

Sienna approached Landon and without making eye contact she said, "Let's just go home."

**A/N: This was the shortest chapter so far but I felt that was the best place to cut it off. I'd love to hear any of your comments or questions! Thank you for reading! Also, I started another story called "The Untold Tale of The Non-Bender". It is a Legend of Korra FanFic about Mako and Bolin so if you are interested, go check it out.**


	9. Nine: This is Where it All Changes

Sienna requested the next day off of work. Her excuse? Food poisoning. She just wanted some time away from the Blackwells to meditate on what she had just learned about herself. So there was an entire secret world where people magically move the elements by dancing around. Her father and apparently every single person she knows were in on it, but everyone agreed not to tell her for the first nineteen years of her life. The more she thought about it, the happier she was that Landon had told her. While she was still furious that he had disobeyed her father's wishes, she was beginning to feel some gratitude. Sienna felt duped. She felt like her entire life was a complete sham. How could her father keep something this important a secret from her? It would be one thing if the situation did not affect her. But if what Landon said was true, and she really was a…Waterbender… (She felt awkward just thinking the word) then this discovery would change her whole life.

After several hours of thinking – racing through the same thoughts over and over again – something occurred to Sienna. She raced into her tiny kitchen and grabbed a large popcorn bowl. She filled it with water and set it on the floor in the middle of the main room. Then she plopped down on the floor next to it.

Sienna stared at the water for several minutes. Was she supposed to feel some sort of kinship with the water? Should she be able to sense its presence? Because nothing happened.

"What am I doing?" She grumbled to herself. She violently pushed herself up and crossed the room, plopping down on her bed in frustration.

She stared at the bowl on the floor. The water seemed to be mocking her. Now every time she took a shower, or drank a glass of water, or cooked some pasta, that would be all she could think about. That she is supposed to have some special connection to that particular element.

Maybe Landon had it wrong, and Sienna was not who he thought she was.

She grunted loudly frustration. "What am I supposed to do?"

She rolled off of the bed and returned to the taunting bowl.

Sienna got into criss-cross applesauce position. She plastered a look of concentration on her face and focused on the water until her head hurt. She willed the water to move, but it was not catching the memo.

"Alright, so what did those people in the cave do? They waved their arms around?"

She waved her hand back and forth over the water. Still nothing happened.

"I know the water was following them. So maybe if I go up and down."

She moved her hand up and down, palm outstretched, over the water, but still nothing happened.

Sienna searched her mind, trying to remember how those Waterbenders moved. She remembered that they looked as if they were dancing. They flowed. They were graceful. Their movements weren't blunt like the Earthbenders, or swift like the Firebenders, or circular like the Airbenders.

Sienna took a deep breath and relaxed her body. She held her hand over the bowl. She let her hand hang limp, sitting slightly at an angle from her wrist. She lifted up, moving her fingers as if there was tension connecting them to the water. She concentrated on liquid, picturing it following the path of her hand.

The water at the center of the bowl streamed upward several inches, matching the speed of Sienna's hand.

She screamed and hit the bowl over. All the water spilled onto the floor and soaked into the carpet.

Sienna had her hand pressed tightly against her mouth to keep herself from crying out again. She was close to hyperventilating. She must have been hallucinating or something.

A knock sounded at the door.

"Hello? Sienna? Are you okay in there?" The nice old lady from across the hall inquired.

"Y-yes. I'm fine. Sorry. I just saw a, umm, spider," Sienna forced out. She attempted to keep her voice as level as possible.

"Okay dear. If you need anything, I'll be right across the hall."

The momentary distraction was enough to calm Sienna down enough for her to face the water again. She stared at the liquid as it flooded the carpet.

"Alright, if it works again, I'm not completely crazy."

Sienna repeated her previous motion and the water began to stream out of the carpet. She held it there, a few inches up, and analyzed it. It was real alright. Sienna was a Waterbender. She poked a finger through the stream and it collapsed back into the drenched fabric.

Not even bothering to clean up the mess, Sienna hastily got dressed and rushed out the door.

* * *

It was nearly five o'clock, and Landon still had mountains of paperwork to finish up. He had to make up for the time he had lost the day before. It did not help that his mind kept wandering away from his work. He could not stop thinking about Sienna's reaction. He could only imagine what would happen if she decided to resent the entire operation because of Landon's poor execution. They were in desperate need of as many recruits as they could find and-

A knock on his office door brought him back to reality.

"Come in," Landon called.

The door swung open and Landon's father entered the room.

"How's that paperwork coming, son?" Mr. Blackwell asked.

"Oh, it's coming along. What do you need?"

Mr. Blackwell had a good-natured smile on his face.

"I was just dropping by to see how your day went yesterday."

Landon immediately turned beet red.

"Oh, umm… Well I, uh, I guess it didn't go too well considering Sienna got, um, food poisoning from dinner," Landon stuttered.

Mr. Blackwell chuckled, then began rolling through what seemed like a semi-rehearsed speech.

"You know what I mean, Landon. Did you two hit it off? I'm very interested! I've thought I'd seen some chemistry…"

"Dad."

"…between you two for some time now and I honestly-"

"Dad!" Landon nearly yelled. The anxiety that came with trying to lie to his father was making him very stressed out. He did not want to hear about his dad's hopes for his made-up love-life. So Landon decided to tell the truth. Or at least part of it, anyway.

"I don't think it worked out. I actually think she called in sick to avoid me today."

Landon avoided his father's eye-contact, and tried to look as upset as possible. Which was not necessarily a hard thing to do. Landon _was_ upset about Sienna's reaction. He did not want her to be angry at him. He wanted her on his side.

"Oh," Mr. Blackwell said awkwardly.

After a moment's pause Landon's father continued with a heartfelt apology: "I'm sorry, son! I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that! I was just very excited for you. I won't bring this up again."

"It's okay, Dad."

Landon still avoided his father's eyes.

There was another still second.

"I'll leave you to your work. If you want to talk about anything, I am just down the hall."

The office door burst open, startling both the men.

Sienna stood there, huffing like she had just run a marathon.

"Mr. Blackwood…May I…speak with your son…please?" Sienna puffed out.

"Um, yes you may. I trust that you are feeling better?" Mr. Blackwood inquired, a sly grin on his face. He felt confident now that his son had merely misinterpreted the situation. Why else would Sienna be there?

"Much."

"I'm glad to hear it. I'll be taking my leave then," He turned his attention towards his son, "Landon, I am going to be leaving work early, around six. Would you care to lock up when you leave?"

"Sure."

Mr. Blackwell waved good-bye and closed the door softly behind him.

"Okay, Sienna, I am very confused right now."

"Oh, well I was hyperventilating because I just ran here from my house."

"I mean what are you doing here? You called out sick."

Sienna grabbed a half-filled bottle of water from Landon's desk. She hastily unscrewed the cap and poured a small puddle onto his desk.

"What are you-"

Sienna took in a deep breath, then repeated the hand movement she had done at home. Sure enough, a small stream of water rose a few inches into the air.

"Did you just figure out how to do that on your own? Today?"

Sienna nodded.

"That's great to see, but I still don't know what you want from me."

Sienna hesitated for several seconds before letting out all of her emotions in the form of words.

"I don't know what I want from you either! I don't even know what I am doing here!"

She started pacing back and forth.

"I'm so confused! I'm still angry at you, but I'm also starting to become angry at my dad. Why would he want to keep this from me? Now that I know, what am I even supposed to do? Why did you want to tell me? I've come up with a million questions and I am dying for answers. And then I go try _that_ out and I find out that you were right about me. That _you_ knew more about me than I did. I want answers, and I couldn't think of anyone else to go to."

"I promise to answer as many of your questions as I can if you will answer one question of mine."

"Sure."

"So you figured out how to move that bit of water by yourself."

"Yeah…"

"Do you want to learn how to do even more? I am giving you a choice. You know what your father wanted, and you know what I want, but what is it that you want to do? Because you can walk away from this and I'll make sure that it never comes back to haunt you again...If you want. I owe you that much."

Sienna paused to consider this question. It was not what she was expecting. She had never even thought about what it would be like to manipulate water like the men and women in the cave. After deep thought and despite all of the controversy and confusion, she came up with her answer.

"Yes. I think I do."


	10. Ten: The Anticipation is Brewing

"Alright. So what do you want to know? Ask away," Landon said.

"Oh, umm, well I want to know about my father. I know you said that you don't know why he wanted to keep this all a secret from me…"

"The best I could do is guess."

"Nothing makes sense, so I'll take anything I can get."

"Well I've known a few bright eyes in the past who have resented us telling them. They had preferred being ignorant about it. The thing is, when you know about your abilities, and you start to train in your bending art, it's extremely difficult to abandon it. It becomes a sixth sense. When you avoid bending, it becomes like a muscle that is itching to be stretched. But for us benders, we must control our bending when we are in public or else we face grave consequences. Some don't want to live with that burden. It's easier to be normal if you don't know that you aren't. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, I think that I do. So you think that my dad didn't want me to live with that burden?"

"I'm only guessing."

Sienna pondered for a moment. Landon was convinced that she was going to start yelling like she had in the cave.

"Well I guess that doesn't really matter anymore. It's too late to fix," was her response, completely calm and level-headed.

Landon was surprised at her level of maturity. He let out a deep breath. He had not realized until that moment that he had been holding it. He allowed himself to loosen up, releasing the tension in his body.

"Anything else you would like to ask me?"

"Yeah… What exactly do you want from me? What am I even supposed to do from here?"

"Well, our organization is always looking for new recruits, and my family believes that you have a lot of potential. Your father was a particularly gifted Waterbender. He had rare abilities that I am hoping he passed onto you."

"I learned how to lift a bit of water a couple of inches into the air, and that took me nineteen years to figure out. Am I really worth the effort that you're giving? Do you always go to these lengths to recruit someone?"

"No, I don't. I usually just tell bright eyes about who they are, and if they are interested I will take them to the Cave. If not, I will tell them how to get a hold of me if they do become interested. It is a security hazard to bring in a strange bender when he can potentially be a threat. But you are a little bit different than some random bender off the street, Sienna."

She did not know what he meant by that, but she let it go.

"And that's it? You just need more recruits?"

"Well you can say that we have been having some problems with the government. There have been some information leaks, and officers have been arresting our men and women for things like 'tax evasion' and 'drunk driving'. We have some serious plans in motion, and we need the numbers in order to make them happen."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense. And my second question? What do I do from here?"

"Well, from here you can get training. We have Waterbending masters who can teach you to hone your abilities. They'll teach you how to master your element, and from there you can help our cause, if you're willing."

Sienna had been thinking about it throughout their entire conversation. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to see what she was capable of doing. It had first started with acceptance, but it was starting to grow into excitement and anticipation.

"Alright," Sienna stated.

"Alright?" Landon asked, confusion obvious on his face. He was expecting hesitation.

"Well I'm guessing I'll have more questions later, but for now, my only question is 'When do I start?'"

A wide grin spread across Landon's face. Sienna wanted to laugh at his expression. He looked more like the little kid she remembered when he was smiling. He was always so serious now-a-days.

"You can start as early as tomorrow morning. I'll give Siku a call tonight and let her know that you've agreed to train. I've told her about you already, and she is very excited to get started."

The very first thing that Sienna thought was _What kind of a name is 'Siku'_, but she decided to keep that question to herself. She simply nodded in agreement.

Landon snapped out of his joyful mood and went straight back to business.

"Alright. Be back here tomorrow morning at seven o'clock. I can take you over to the Cave, if you don't mind riding the motorcycle."

"I don't think your motorcycle and I got along very well the first time, but I'm willing to give it a second shot if she is," Sienna said jokingly.

"Yes, I'm sure _she_ will be very accommodating," Landon said mockingly.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early."

Landon got up out of his chair and opened the door for Sienna. On her way out, she paused.

"Oh, and Landon?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for making this so difficult for you. I'm actually starting to really appreciate that you told me," Sienna said. Her tone was softer than it had been throughout the rest of their conversation.

"I'm just doing my duty," Landon replied very formally and awkwardly. He closed the door behind her as she left.

Landon retook his seat and stared at the mountain of papers he still had to go through. He groaned to himself. As he picked up the first paper, a thought occurred to him.

"Oh _shit_, what am I going to tell my dad?"

He groaned even harder and started on his massive pile.

**A/N: Thank you for reading my latest installment! If there are any discrepancies in the story, let me know. I change ideas for the story so much that I forget what I have actually written down and what I haven't. Anyways, I hope you have a wonderful day!**


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